Fernandes: Owners committed to QPR

07 March 2014 11:46

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has promised that the club's owners are committed to staying at the Sky Bet Championship outfit for the long term despite announcing the biggest losses by any English club last season.

QPR lost Â£65.4million last season, when the club was relegated from the Barclays Premier League, while their debt almost doubled to £177million. Their financial situation puts them at risk of facing fines totalling tens of millions of pounds due to the Football League's financial fair play rules.

Fernandes said in a statement on the club's website: "Relegation wasn't part of the plan and it has cost us financially and emotionally, but I and my fellow shareholder are fighters. We are committed and here for the long term."

He said that having built up the squad there was no need to invest more money - and indeed that a number of players could be sold. Fernandes also insisted that promotion back to the Premier League this season was not vital.

He added: "Achieving promotion this season is not critical to our long-term strategy, but it remains our short-term goal.

"If we fail in our bid for promotion, the support is there and there is no need for any more advances to build a squad.

"We are now in a position where we can work with what we have, and raise capital to invest in the squad by selling players who are not part of the manager's plans."

Fernandes also stressed that the club's debt was mainly in the form of shareholder loans.